How your home loses heat through windows

Main Forms of Heat Loss in a Home

If your home is not properly maintained to keep heat in, your heaters will have to work much harder and longer to keep you warm. This will result in a waste of energy and money. So, if you want to do something that's good for your wallet and the environment, check your home for ways to reduce heat loss. You'll want to start by looking for any air leakage near your windows, doors, floors, walls, and ceilings. If you can feel or see drafts coming in around plumbing vents, electrical outlets, window frames, baseboards, or recessed lighting, apply caulk or weather stripping to seal the leak. Also be sure to close the chimney damper, or else it acts like an open window sucking air up and out through the chimney. You could lose up to 30 percent of your heat through an open damper. If you have an attic that you access through a folding stair, check around the edges of the opening to see if warm air is leaking into the attic from the house. An easy way to test for this is to switch on the attic light with the door closed and then look for specks of light around the door. If you can see light, this means there is space for warm air to escape. Cover these spaces with weather stripping to keep heat inside where it belongs.

Once you've checked to make sure air is not leaking out of your home unnecessarily, you might want to consider adding extra insulation to keep even more heat inside. You can do this by simply adding wall hangings, thick curtains, and carpets. You can apply a double glazing to your windows and if you want to take on a bigger project, you might consider adding better insulation to your walls and attic. But be sure to check your home for air leaks before you take on any expensive projects. A few extra carpets and a little caulk and weather stripping can go a long way towards keeping you warmer and your energy bills lower.

Comments

The views expressed are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms Of Service and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms.